Dish of Pasta with Spinach Stems, 'Shrooms
(click to enlarge)

Pasta w/ Spinach Stems, 'Shrooms


California
Dresses:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 8 oz pasta
**
55 min
Most		 I'm often left with a lot of spinach stems, so I adapted the Italian recipe Pasta with Spinach and 'Shrooms to use stems. I liked it better than the original. Spinach stems are sweeter than the leaves.

8
11
3
1
1
3
1/2
1/3
1/3
1/4
2
8
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ar
oz
oz
oz
cl

T
c
t
t
t
T
oz
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Spinach Stems (1)  
Mushrooms (2)
Onion
Garlic
Chili, dried (3)
Olive Oil ExtV
Wine, White dry
Thyme, dry (4)
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice
Pasta (5)
-- Garnish
Grated Parmesan
Do Ahead   -   (20 min)
  1. Float wash SPINACH and separate Leaves from Stems. Spin in a Salad Spinner to reduce water (probably already done for another recipe). Bagged in plastic and refrigerated, both will last for 2 days.
Prep   -   (20 min)
  1. Slice MUSHROOMS about 1/8 inch thick.
  2. Chop ONIONS small. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Crush CHILI. Mix all.
  3. Cut Spinach Stems about 2 inches long, or as desired.
  4. Squeeze Lemon Juice.
Run   -   (35 min) - Time presumes overlapping cooking Pasta and Pan Cooking.
  1. You can put your Pasta into the boiling salted water at this point. When al dente drain, return to the (now empty) pot and mix with a few drops of Olive Oil to keep it from sticking together.
  2. In a sauté pan, heat Olive Oil. Fry Onion until translucent, then stir in Mushrooms and fry stirring until they have started to give up their water. How long this takes will depend on what kind of mushrooms you use.
  3. Stir in Spinach Stems and fry stirring until well coated with oil and starting to wilt.
  4. Stir in White Wine and Thyme. Simmer until Stems are tender but not mushy. Uncover if needed to reduce the wine, don't dry it out.
  5. Season with Salt and Pepper. Stir in Lemon Juice and immediately take off the heat.
  6. Serve hot over (or mixed with) Pasta
NOTES:

  1. Spinach Stems:

      8 ounces is about what you can expect from 1-1/4 pounds of good quality spinach. If you're short on stems, feel free to mix in some torn up leaves.

  2. Mushrooms:

      The photo example was made with a mix of Crab Mushrooms (which look just like the pasta) and White Mushrooms, which is what I had on hand, but criminis, portabellas, king trumpets, and oyster mushrooms are also suitable.

  3. Chili:

      Hey, it wouldn't be California without a touch of heat, now would it? I use a small but very intense Bird Chili, but use your own best judgement. For details see our Chili Page.

  4. Thyme:

      Thyme is traditional with this sort of recipe, but use whatever herb you would like, dry or fresh. For the photo example I actually used dried oregano and it worked fine.

  5. Pasta:

      I used Bucatini, broken into thirds, for a good match with the spinach stems, but other shapes could be used as well.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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